


Sleepless Nights

by orphan_account



Series: Klance Week 2016 [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Sleep talking, keith spills his guts, lance realizes stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-08-11 18:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7902589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Klance week day 4: free day</p>
<p>"Lance sits down next to Keith and leans back, supporting his weight on his hands. 'Didn't expect to see you out here, Keith,' he says, not expecting an answer. He almost jumps when he gets one. </p>
<p>'Didn't expect to see you here either,' comes Keith’s breathy whisper. </p>
<p>'You're awake then?' Lance asks him.</p>
<p>'No,' he replies. </p>
<p>'Oh.'"</p>
<p>When Lance discovers his secret spot has been taken over one day, he also learns that the offender talks in his sleep, and is completely honest when he does.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sleepless Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Last night, at twelve a.m., I suddenly remembered that some people are actually capable of holding conversations in their sleep. So I wrote this and voila! More three a.m. masterpieces!
> 
> On a side note, I will try and post something every week, but I'm a pretty spontaneous person, so I can't promise regular updates. I apologize for this and will try to get my lazy ass to write more stuff lol

There are times when Lance just needs to be by himself. So he climbs up staircases, walks through empty hallways, and goes up ladders until he’s on a little balcony, only open when the castle ship docks on a planet. 

It’s his secret hideout. He’s fairly sure he’s the only one who knows about it. The castle is so big, not even Allura or Coran know all its secrets. When he’s feeling homesick, or angry, or sad, he comes up to the balcony, with only the night sky and the stars for company. Lance doesn’t need pills for his insomnia as long as he’s got the stars, peppering the sky like the freckles on his face. And as the planet’s sun begins to peek out from under the blanket of night, he’ll make his way back to his room, sneak into his bed, and hide all signs of having gone out. 

Tonight, Lance is frustrated, and confused. Keith keeps grating on his nerves and making his stomach do this weird flippy thing that he does not like. At all. 

It's not fair. Every time Lance sees Keith now, his cheeks flush until he thinks he might have a fever, his insides tingle, and he clams up, stuttering uncharacteristically. Damn Keith for being so annoying. Damn him for having such nice hair. Damn him for being so cute. Damn him for being such a good rival and teammate. Damn him for always listening to Lance when he needs someone. 

Lance climbs the last rung of the ladder, pulling himself up to what he expects to be an empty balcony, waiting there just for him. He is taken aback and disappointed when he sees a dark figure lying down on the floor, shadowed by the darkness of the night sky. 

“Hello?” he calls tentatively, and receives no answer. 

He steps out onto the balcony, feet gliding softly over the floor. As he comes closer, he starts to recognize the person on the ground by the shape of his hair and body. It's Keith. 

He’s sleeping, his chest rising and falling rhythmically, a knife clutched in his left hand. A wave of serenity washes over Lance as he sits next to Keith, watching his face. The peaceful smile on his face is different from the smirk or scowl he usually gives Lance. 

Lance sits down next to him and leans back, supporting his weight on his hands. “Didn't expect to see you out here, Keith,” he says, not expecting an answer. He almost jumps when he gets one. 

“Didn't expect to see you here either,” comes Keith’s breathy whisper. 

“You're awake then?” Lance asks him.

“No,” he replies. 

“Oh.” Is Keith a sleeptalker? That seems to be the only logical explanation. His subconscious appears to be able to carry a normal conversation while he’s asleep. 

Lance sits there in silence for a few minutes, gazing at the stars, before he has to say something. 

“I miss my family,” he tells Keith. “I never got to tell them I was leaving, and now I'm gone. I hope they don't worry too much. I hope I can see them again.” He allows this to sink in before asking, “What’s your family like, Keith?” 

“I'm an orphan,” Keith says, straight to the point. 

“Oh. I'm sorry.”

“My dad gave me my knife,” he says, “and taught me how to use it. He'd carry me on his shoulders and kiss my mother on the cheek. She'd say something in Mandarin, and he’d reply in Korean, and they'd laugh. My mom would thread flowers in my hair and kiss my cheeks and call me her 宠儿.” His smile twists into a frown. “I can't remember how they died.” 

Lance, by now, has learned that Keith is extremely open when he’s asleep. He wouldn't be surprised if Keith hasn’t told anyone this before. 

“I bet you miss them,” Lance says. It's all he can think of at this moment. Keith hums in agreement. 

“When we get back to Earth, you should come meet my family,” Lance says, interrupting the comfortable silence that had fallen between them. “They’ll pinch your cheeks and feed you too much, and then they’ll make you play board games and by then you’ll be an honorary family member.” His smile is bittersweet, tinged by his longing for his family and yet the joy he remembers them with. 

“I’ll look forward to it,” Keith answers. 

“Did you have any friends as a kid?” Lance asks. 

“My neighbor was my best friend when I was little, but after my parents died I got put into an orphanage and I never saw her again. Her name was Reyi, and she had the thickest black hair I’d ever seen. She’d say hi to me every morning, with her big toothy grin, and we’d walk to school together. I never made any friends after that. I was the weird kid without any parents. Nobody wanted to talk to me, and I didn't want to talk to anyone either.” 

Lances winces in sympathy before saying, “Is that why you kept glaring at everyone on the first day at the Garrison?” He chuckles at the memory. Everyone had been with their friends and family, chatting excitedly, while one boy sulked in the corner, arms crossed, a dark look on his face. 

Keith smiles again. “I just wanted to fly the simulator,” he admits. “I didn't really care about anything else.”

“I wanted to be your friend,” Lance says offhandedly. “I don't take well to rejection, so when you sort of told me to fuck off I basically did everything I could to try and be better than you.” He shakes his head. “It never worked. You were always so good at everything you did, it made me so mad.” 

“Sorry.”

“It's ok. By the way, will you remember any of this tomorrow?”

“No.”

“Oh.” 

Lance clears his throat and asks, “So what do you think of being in outer space?”

Keith says, ”It's pretty cool. I don't have anything on Earth to miss, plus we get to fly giant robot lions. And I've made my first friends in ten years. Except Shiro, because I knew him before.” 

Lance takes some time to absorb all that Keith’s just spilled to him. 

“Do you still hate me?” he finally asks, breaking the silence. 

“I never hated you,” Keith says after a while. “I couldn’t understand why you kept making jabs at me.”

“Do you like me now?”

A few moments pass before Keith murmurs, “I love you.”

A smile crosses his face in sleep as Lance feels a blush creeping up his neck. Eventually, he breaks out into a grin.

“I guess that’s it,” Lance says finally. “I guess that’s why I’ve been feeling so weird whenever I see you. Hah! Imagine that, being in love with Keith and having him reciprocate your feelings. You might end up becoming an actual family member at this rate.”

“Imagine that,” Keith says. He shifts, putting his head in Lance’s lap. “You’re warm.”

Lance leans back until his back touches the ground and looks up. “The stars are beautiful tonight,” he says. He threads his fingers through Keith’s hair, just like how he’s wanted to for a while. It’s as soft as he imagined. Closing his eyes, he lets the silent song of the universe and Keith’s deep, even breathing lull him to sleep. 

It’s the best sleep he’s had in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> 宠儿 = darling


End file.
